St Nicholas of Myra slapping Arius at the Council of Nicaea. Icon at Soumela Monastery, Maçka/Trabzon, Turkey.
Editorial, May 25, 2015: All Christians know that Christ Jesus is their Lord and Master. By “master”, we mean “teacher”, “instructor”, the One who shows us the way to Heaven and the way to get to Heaven.
Consequently, the teachings of Jesus Christ are the very essence of Christianity, and Christianity is in its essence a religion defined by Christ’s teachings.
Now, just as the christian church which is true to Christ in all His teachings, both doctrinal and moral, is the true Church of Christ — and this is the Catholic Church — so is Christian faith, hope and charity defined by the affirmation of Christ’s teachings, and not just some of them (for even a pagan can admire some of them), but all of them. And not just professing with one’s lips that they are true, but living and obeying them in one’s own person and life. This is, infact, what it means to be a true Christian, a true Catholic.
It follows then, that saying what is NOT the teaching of Christ and what transgresses His teaching is absolutely necessary. For just as it is necessary to every property owner, who wishes to retain his property, that he know the boundaries of that property and defend them and his title to them, so in matters of being a Christian, the fidelity which leads one to accept and put into practice the teachings of Our Lord and Master, requires that we know precisely where those boundaries are, so that we might not be fooled into thinking that something is nor is not part of Christ’s teaching.
The ancient word, which Christians use for this, comes from the Greek word, αἵρεσις (haeresis), which means “choice”. The first Christians used this word to signify a teaching which differed from Christ’s teaching, because they understood simply and truly that the litmus test for being a disciple of Christ was that the disciple accepted everything Christ taught and chose to believe nothing which was disharmonious with it.
So, the choice to believe other masters was called a αἵρεσις, and thus that false doctrine was called also a heresy.
For this reason, we can say that without the word, “heresy”, a Christian could not distinguish a true disciple from a false one. For many are the antichrists which have gone out from us, says the Apostle St. John in 1 Jn 2:18 ff..:
18Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us. 20 But you have the unction from the Holy One, and know all things. 21 I have not written to you as to them that know not the truth, but as to them that know it: and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also. 24 As for you, let that which you have heard from the beginning, abide in you. If that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning, you also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father.
Hence, the Christian who refuses to use the word, “heresy”, in regard to false teaching, is in truth the Christian who no longer wishes to follow Jesus Christ. He has chosen instead to live and get along and not rock the boat. And thus he no longer has either right faith, nor true hope in the salvation Christ’s promised; and most of all, he has not the charity which binds the disciple to His Master and holds his fellow Christian as dear as himself, wishing to guard him from the danger of damnation by warning him, with the word, “Beware, what that man is saying is heresy!”
by Antonio Socci, unofficial English translation by the From Rome blog.
That Ireland, ancient fortress of Catholicism, has gone over to the people of “gay” marriage (“and who am I to judge”, as the Bishop of Rome is want to say), is a historical event. If this sounds like the profound rumble of an avalanche, as in the collapse of a mountain falling down, it is just to ask, “Is this an Bergoglio effect?”
Besides, in South America, the Church has already been crumbling for years (the statistics are horrible); now in Europe, the heart of Christendom.
That which renders secularism dominant — as Cardinal De Lubac used to say — is the propulsion and instrumentalization of “a Christianity ever more in the minority, reduced to a vague and impotent theism.”
Barack and his Puppets
Today, only such a theism is permitted. Instead, the Catholic Church as She has been known upto now is threatened even as regards Her existence.
There is only place for a ridiculous laicized parody of Herself, as the humanitarian “courtesan” (as Andrea Emo would have it), as an “agency for religion” which on the great life issues submits herself to the dictates of Obama-like ideology, which renounces proselytism and the “Catholic God” (as Bergoglio says, “There exists no Catholic God”), which dissolves herself into an ecumenical freemasonry of so many religions, which busies herself with the climate and the recycling of garbage, teaching good manners (Good Morning! Good Evening! Thank you! and Pardon me!) and goofy-pleas for the help of the poor. But for the true Catholic Church, there is no longer any seat at the table, as the drama of the last great pope, Benedict XVI shows, “fired”, self-incarcerated and silenced.
The True Church
The Church has illumined and conquered the darkness of the world of the gods and has rehabilitated the history of a pagan and anti-human age: the Church of the Word of God made Flesh, who has the presumptuousness to announce the Truth, the Church of the great Saints, of the Martyrs, of the Missionaries, the Church of the Divine Liturgy and of the masterpieces of Art, the Church of Mother Teresa, of great ideas, of great popes, of Padre Pio, with Her outbursts of the supernatural, the Church which has held Herself firm head-to-head with the ferocity of the Mohammedan and the great genocidal totalitarianisms of the 20th Century: this Church, today, no longer has the rights of citizenship.
Yesterday, Msgr. Galantino (Secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference) — according to a tweet from Alberto Mingardi — seems to have said at a conference: “When the Church was Catholic and the Mass was in Latin …”.
A Freudian slip which is explosive and revealing. In fact, today, we are in the midst of the last act of the “liquidation of the Catholic Church,” as Giuseppe Prezzolini foretold, a layman but concerned with the abyss to which the Catholic world was running, anxious as it was to be “modernized” and to surrender to all the ideological fashions of the moment.
But, to liquidate the Church, it is not the persecutions, nor the hatred of the secularist, but — as Paul VI said — it’s the “self-demolition” from within which is the cause.
The way to the abyss was undertaken not with the Council — as certain lefebrvians think — but at its end, exactly 50 years ago, with the “post-Conciliar” age.
In the days following, in the newspapers, one was reminded of the 5oth anniversary of the first Mass in Italian, and another layman like Elémire Zolla, in those days, came to underline the event in apocalyptic tones: “The 7th of March, the Mass dies, Gregorian chant dies. Heard for the last time. Now, as a dry branch, the Church shall be burnt.”
In reality, the problem was not only the use of the vulgar language in the liturgy (a thing, which I think is positive), but the successive “liturgical reform” of 1969 and above all the de facto, but illegal, banning of the Mass of the preceding millennia of Catholic liturgy.
Joseph Ratzinger made us understand, many years afterwards, the enormous error, even theological, which was committed at that time. Which would have colossal consequences, even in the tragic loss of faith.
To Save the Cathedral
But, curiously, in those days, the ones to raise the alarm, in a dramatic manner, for this Church which in an instant has refused its own bimillenarian rite (that around which our Cathedrals were constructed), were above all the laymen-intellectuals.
Who protested with the same consternation with which we contemplate, today, the tragic devastation wrought by Isis in the ancient Middle-East.
On September 5, 1966, there was issued the first appeal to Paul VI to safe-guard the Latin-Gregorian liturgy (a few months before the devastating flood which struck the ancient, Catholic beauty of Florence).
That manifesto/appeal was signed by some 40 great intellectuals and it is impressive, today, to read some of their names: Jorge Luis Borges, Salvatore Quasimodo, Eugenio Montale, Giorgio De Chirico, Robert Bresson, Jacques Maritain, François Mauriac, Gabriel Marcel, Maria Zambrano, Cristina Campo, Elena Croce, Wystan Hugh Auden, Jorge Guillen, Elémire Zolla, Philip Toynbee, Evelyn Waugh, Salvador De Madariaga, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Julien Green, Elsa Respighi, Francesco Gabrieli, José Bergamin, Fedele D’Amico, Luigi Dallapiccola, Victoria Ocampo, Wally Toscanini, Gertrud von Le Fort, Augusto Del Noce, Lanza Del Vasto.
The appeal made a great impression, even in the Vatican, but di not succeed in stopping the landslide. Thus, in 1971, another was made, and the number of intellectuals who added their names was even more.
I remember some of their names: Agatha Christie, Graham Greene, Harold Acton, Mario Luzi, Andrés Segovia, William Rees-Mogg (the director of the Times), Joan Sutherland, Guido Piovene, Giorgio Bassani, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Ettore Paratore, Gianfranco Contini, Giacomo Devoto, Giovanni Macchia, Massimo Pallottino, Rivers Scott, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Colin Davis, Robert Graves, Yehudi Menuhin, Kenneth Clark, Malcolm Muggeridge.
Self-Demolition
It was for the most part, useless, but little by little the same Paul VI became aware of the tragedy which was in course: the collapse of religious practice, the thousands of priests and religious who abandoned the habit, the catholic intellectuals who submitted to marxism, the great part of the youth seduced by the myths of the revolution (by Fidel Castro, by Mao, by the Vietcong, by Che Guevara, and last by Stalin), the spread of the Theology of liberation and of the modernist theologies which demolished Catholic Doctrine.
Paul VI, in his last years, spoke in ever increasing dramatic tones: “We believed that after the Council there would have come a day of sunshine in the history of the Church. There came, instead, a day of clouds and storms, and of darkness”, “from somewhere the smoke of Satan has entered into the temple of God”, “the opening to the world was a true invasion of worldly thought in the Church … We we have been, perhaps, too weak and imprudent.”
Paul VI denounced “those who try to knock the Church down from within” and he began to cite the books of Louis Bouyer, “The Decomposition of Catholicism” and “Religieux et Clercs contre Dieu.”
To his friend Jean Guitton, he confided: “There is a great turmoil in this moment in the world and in the Church, and what is in question is the faith. I find myself, now, repeating the obscure phrase of Jesus in the Gospel of Saint Luke: “When the Son of man returns, shall He still find faith upon earth?” What strikes me when I consider the catholic world,” the Pope continued, “is that inside Catholicism there seems to sometimes prevail a mentality of the non-catholic type, and it might happen that this non-catholic thought within Catholicism becomes stronger tomorrow. But it shall never represent the thought of the Church.”
Then, thanks be to God, there arrived John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger. The Barque of Peter was tirelessly repaired, the compass of the Faith found its way and a generation of young people experienced anew the beauty of Christianity.
But this was the spring which was bitten by some sort of powerful and obscure frost, which for the first time in the history of the Church, placed before us the drama of a “Pope emeritus” self-imprisoned in the Vatican and of a “bishop dressed in white” which was acclaimed by all the eternal enemies of the Catholic Faith, who has brought the Church into a submission with the worldly ideologies of the 70’s (having even re-exhumed the theology of liberation and its founder Gutierrez, which now pontificates from the Vatican).
We seem to have reached the final abyss. Unless God….
(Published in the Libero, May 24, 2015: this English translation is currently unapproved, but if the author gives us some corrections, it will be amended in the next few days. — The translator, while not agreeing with all of the authors judgements, nevertheless believes that the article poses significant contributions to Catholic thought for the present hour).
Rome, May 22, 2015: The interpretation of St. John the Apostle’s Book of the Apocalypse is the most difficult of all the books of the Bible, precisely because it is a prophetic book which speaks in symbolic language of the things which are to come.
Of the Antichrist the Fathers of the Church have spoken much, and speculated much. They concur that he will be a real human person, a man, whose mother will be of the race of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and whose father will be a Catholic Bishop.
But of the false prophet, they have not said much.
From the Scripture, we can readily see however, that the false prophet is one who will easily deceive even the elect, speaking as he does in sweet and convincing ways.
Who is the False Prophet, then? — The man who excuses sin, the man who ignores God, the man who belittles the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the man who presents Christ in a false light, the man who undermines the Catholic Church.
But above all, the False Prophet will be the man who succeeds in getting nearly the entire world to agree with him, expressly or implicitly by their silence.
We have no way of knowing with certainty if we are at the end of the world or not. But we do know that it is a mortal sin for any Catholic to be silent when the truth of the Faith or the integrity of the Church is attacked or sullied.
Cardinal Bergoglio, has without a doubt, proved to be the man whose duplicity, deceits, maneuvering, errors and outright heresies and blasphemies deserve to be denounced from every pulpit, in every Catholic Monastery, Convent, and home.
The silence of so many proves that they are sinning gravely against their duty to be faithful to Christ.
The silence of so many Bishops proves that they are not worthy of their office.
The silence of so many Cardinals proves that they love themselves more than Jesus Christ.
Many are meriting eternal damnation by their silence, just as they will in the days of the False Prophet, whensoever be the days of his coming.
This day, then, choose life or death; speak the truth and denounce the errors and the man, or remain silent and merit eternal Hell fire. It’s your choice.
Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, rector of the Catholic University in Argentina, gestures while leaving the concluding session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican in this Oct. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See SYNOD-METAPHORS Oct. 8, 2014.
Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, the theologian widely acknowledged to have been the lead ghostwriter of Pope Francis’s much-praised apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, recently gave an interview that is remarkable for the crudity of its categories, the tendentiousness of its contentions, and, above all, what it portends for the silent lambs. The Archbishop’s way of talking about the Church is so far from what one would expect from a serious theologian and vir Ecclesiae, it’s difficult, for me at least, not to despair at the significance of this man’s being one of the advisors on whom the Holy Father is reputed to rely the most.
The interview is here, and those who care about how we should love the Bride of Christ should be scandalized by the mentality it bespeaks and the future it all but promises. Keep in mind that its all-but-named target at one point is the recent and utterly unprecedented suggestion (here) by Cardinal Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that a new role for the CDF would be to provide a “theological framework” for this pontificate. As readers will recall, Cardinal Muller was one of Pope Benedict’s last senior appointments in the Roman Curia.
Cardinal Pell, the other day at Rome, has confirmed the conclusion of the From Rome Blog, that “Team Bergoglio” is a heretical conspiracy, when he said that the party in the Church pushing for a change in Church discipline are “atheists”.
If the Pope was an effective communicator and faithful disciple of Christ in communicating, you would expect something like this logo would never happen, let alone be considered.
Without a doubt the logo is sowing confusion, because being composed of mixed symbols, it is in a word confusing.
The logo by the Jesuit Father — who we believe does not have the artistic talent or appreciation for the achievements of Catholic Art, in past or modern times — departs radically from the Scriptural images used by Our Lord.
First, because to return to the image given us by Our Lord: to seek the 1 lost sheep, leaving aside the 100, is an image of the love of Our Redeemer, not of His Mercy. Mercy consists in His deed of dying for us, like a lamb, upon the Cross, while saying, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do!”
The ancient depiction of the aureole about Christ’s Head should contain a clearly visible Cross, normally 3 of the 4 arms. But showing 2, Mr. Tapley takes them as horns.
Others, this time a Brit, have taken scandal. Here is what End Times News, a protestant source, is saying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K2I1_l-1s4
He has taken scandal, among other things, with the Vatican’s English translation of the accompanying prayer, which by failing to distinguish, as can be done in English, between relative pronouns which refer to God and those which refer to creatures, such as Our Lady, has led him to an awful misunderstanding, or at least given him occasion to be scandalized.
From Rome believes, in addition, that the choice of the logo shows a great insensitivity to the victims of clerical abuse, because it appears to show the abduction of a man by another man, exalted as an act of mercy.
Our Lord did in fact say, “Out of the fullness of one’s heart, does the mouth speak.” It seems, therefore, that not only the artist but all those involved in choosing the Logo, need to look to their heart and ask how is it, that such a confused and twisted image is recognized by them as an apt symbol for a “Year of Mercy”?
From Rome thinks it has everything to do with the false theology upon which Pope Francis has based the entire year.
For it is a law of the spirit, that no one can exalt anything unto the level of the divine, without committing the sin of idolatry; whereupon, with such a spirit of sin, the entire spiritual life and judgement of the idolater becomes corrupt. — This spiritual principal can be distilled from reading the entirety of Scripture, especially the Old Testament prophets.
For more about the fundamental problem with the Year of mercy, see our campaign, #Y4Tc.
You cannot make this stuff up: silence in the face of alleged Papal apostasy is either a grave sin against the charity and obedience owed the Pope, or is a tacit consent to the alleged apostasy.
This week saw an effort by multinational corporations in a concerted action to attack religious liberty of God fearing souls in the State of Indiana, USA. That State’s government had passed a law to defend the rights of citizens to express themselves according to their religious beliefs.
No sooner as the law was passed that the Mass Media, Including Fox News (shame on you Judge Napolitano!), attacked Indiana claiming that the law discriminated against sodomites. In their twisted logic, if a Baker refuses to bake a cake for their “wedding”, then the Baker has discriminated against the pair.
The State of Arkansas was also attacked, since it was about to pass a similar law defending religious liberty.
Along with the Mass Media, several multinational corporations joined in the attack: Appel, Walmart and Twitter.
Twitter’s action was highly unethical, not to mention a direct affront to its users.
Highly unethical, because Twitter is a social communications platform. If they take any position against free speech (of which even religious liberty is a species) then they are using their platform to mold thoughts, not allow free expression.
An affront to God fearing folk, because to insist that those, who recognize God as author of creation and marriage, must recognize the right to do in public what is immoral and against God’s revealed laws, is a violation of the notion of religious liberty.
But, though such a critique can rightly be advanced against the agenda of the sodomites, we cannot deny that the principle target of the attack on Indiana and Arkansas was Christianity itself, as a religion. Because it is Christianity which has given the peoples of Arkansas and Indiana the moral values and beliefs upon which they rightfully and reasonably claim the civil liberty to refuse to engage in the moral or financial or physical consent or support of that which is contrary to the religious beliefs.
As Catholics, of course, we recognize that the United States of America has a form of government which does not recognize that Jesus Christ is the rightful Lord and King of all Nations. And that therefore, no law is valid or licit which contravenes His teaching. Nevertheless, we cannot forgo the claim to exercise freedom in living by our Christian Faith as a prerequisite of citizenship in the United States or in any nation. Because we are Christians first of all and before all else.
Therefore, mindful that our silence today will lead to the more brutal persecution of Christians tomorrow, we join in a Crusade-Boycott against Twitter Corporation, which will have as the official hashtag #TwitterSPC.
#TwitterSPC = Twitter Stop Persecuting Christians
During the term of this boycott, those participating will refuse to purchase any produce advertised on Twitter by a paid advertisement and refuse to purchase any paid service on Twitter.
Our Demands are that Twitter rescind it objection to the original texts of the Indiana and Arkansas law, and publicly recognize the right of Christians to refuse compliance with the ideologies or values of those who hold beliefs contradicting their own, whether in the USA or anywhere else in the world, especially that ideology which Christians correctly recognize as against Nature, against the Author of Nature, Jesus Christ.
We also demand that Twitter cease bombarding users with images of kissing sodomites during login.
How to participate in this Crusade/Boycott
Place the hashtag #TwitterSPC in the text description of your profile, and tweet out your complaints to Twitter or Twitter advertisers using the hashtag.
To those advertising on Twitter, tell them you will boycott the products or services they advertise, during the time of the #TwitterSPC campaign until Twitter stops persecuting Christians and siding with those who persecute Christians.
Tell them that Twitter in attacking Indiana has acting in a highly unethical manner, by violating the neutrality every social media should maintain, and is attempting to modify the thought of its users by engaging in a Gestapo action against the free citizens of all nations, by intimidating users into silence (out of fear of having their account suspended).
Invite all your followers, as a group, or individually to join the #TwitterSPC campaign, out of love for Christ Jesus and to avoid further persecutions of Christians by Twitter.
Encourage others to start similar boycotts of every media outlet and corporation which attacked Indiana and Arkansas and the Christian businessmen of those states.
In 1962, a young woman, taken with a divine love for the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, forsook everything and joined a strict convent, so that every day she might have many and frequent sacrifices to offer God, her Love, as a chaste spouse to a much beloved husband. And all the other catholic nuns in the convent did the same.
Then came a Bishop, who, being in admiration for the art of statuary and the aesthetics of the Renaissance, donated to all the convents in his diocese, a copy of the Statue of St. David, King of Israel, as crafted by Michelangelo.
At first, the Mother Superior of the Convent objected, saying to the Bishop: that kind of art is not appropriate in a convent of consecrated virgins. But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want my favor and blessing, you will not spurn my gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and took the statue.
When the Bishop came the next year to visit the Convent, he asked, “Where is the statue I donated?” The Mother Superior said, “I did not have the money for a pedestal which would properly display the statue, so it is being stored temporarily in the lumbar room (i.e. the storage room).” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want my favor and blessing, you will not spurn my gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and bought a pedestal and set the statue up.
In the third year, the bishop came to visit the Convent, again, and asked, “Where is the statue I donated?” The Mother Superior said, “I could not think of where such a statue might be placed, worthy of its full artistic effect. So it is for the time being set up in an unused chapel, at the back of the Convent.” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want my favor and blessing, you will not spurn my gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and moved the Statue to the courtyard.
At this, the nuns of the Convent all objected, saying, that such artwork was not appropriate for the courtyard of a Convent. But the Mother Superior said, “Don’t be puritanical, after all, it is only a statue of St. David!” And so all the nuns relented, and ceased their complaints. Except one faithful virgin, who out of meekness guarded her eyes, and never looked upon the statue again.
In the fourth year, the bishop came to visit the Convent, again, and asked, “Where is the statue I donated? Why have you dishonored it?” The Mother Superior said, “Your Excellency, I have placed it in the most visible part of the Convent, so that all the nuns can see it daily.” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want my favor and blessing, you will not spurn My gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and moved the Statue to the main Chapel of the Convent.
At this, the nuns of the Convent, though they were fewer in number, all objected, saying, that such artwork was not appropriate for the main chapel of the Convent. But the Mother Superior said, “Don’t be puritanical, after all, it is only a statue of St. David!” And so all the nuns relented, and ceased their complaints. Except one faithful virgin, who out of meekness guarded her eyes, and never walked on that side of the Chapel again.
In the fifth year, the bishop came to visit the Convent, again, and asked, “Where is the statue I donated? Why have you dishonored it?” The Mother Superior said, “Your Excellency, I have placed it in the most visible side-niche of the Chapel, so that all the nuns can see it daily during Mass and Office.” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want My favor and blessing, you will not spurn My gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and moved the Statue to the main altar of the Chapel.
At this, the nuns of the Convent, though they were much fewer in number, all objected, saying, that such artwork was not appropriate for the main altar of the Chapel Convent. But the Mother Superior said, “Don’t be puritanical, after all, it is only a statue of St. David!” And so all the nuns relented, and ceased their complaints. Except one faithful virgin, who out of meekness guarded her eyes, and never looked up at the main altar again, taking her seat in the last pew furthest from it.
In the sixth year, the bishop came to visit the Convent, again, and asked, “Where is the statue which I donated? Why have you dishonored It?” The Mother Superior said, “Your Excellency, I have placed it above the main altar so that the nuns of our Convent cannot but see it daily during Mass and Office.” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “If you want My favor and blessing, you will not spurn My gifts!” And so the Mother Superior relented, and required that each nun renew her vows of chastity, while kneeling before it.
At this, the nuns of the Convent, who were now only a few, all objected, saying that such a statue should never be the object of their vow of chastity. But the Mother Superior said, “Don’t be puritanical, after all, it is only a statue of St. David, from whom came Christ Our Lord”. And so all the nuns relented, and remade their vows before it. Except one faithful virgin, who out of meekness guarded her eyes, and made her vows with her back to it.
At this the Mother Superior said, “That will not do, Sister! Either make your vows facing the statue or get out of my Convent!” And so, at that, the one and only faithful nun was kicked out of the Convent.
In the seventh year, the bishop came to visit the Convent, again, and asked, “Where is the Statue which I donated? Why have you dishonored It?” The Mother Superior said, “Your Excellency, I renew my vows monthly at the feet of your statue.” But the Bishop demurred, and replied, “Where have all the nuns of this Convent gone?” And, the Mother Superior replied, “I do not know, they all got the idea in their head that it would be more pleasing to God for them to marry, and so they left the Convent and married men from the village.” “All of them? exclaimed the Bishop in dismay. “Yes, all of them”, said the Mother Superior, “All, that is, except one rigorist, antiquarian, neo-pelagian, who thought looking at the statue of a nude man was against her vow of chastity and virginity! Imagine that”. To which the Bishop said, “Incredible!”
* * *
And Our Lord’s disciples, hearing this, asked Him to explain this parable, and He said, “Just as a consecrated virgin is to My Sacred Heart, so are the Catholic Faithful who eschew error and falsehood, especially in regards to all which I taught them. For I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And all who come to Me shall find Life. But all who deny Me by their words, deeds or omissions, I too shall deny before the Throne of My Father in Heaven. Let this be a warning to each of you! Let him who has ears to hear, hear!”
* * *
Editor’s Note: This parable is, of course, a fiction, but I would bet that if such a Bishop ever existed, if he would ever encounter such a nun in the street, still wearing her habit, he would demand that she sign an act of reconciliation before that Statue as a prerequisite for being readmitted to full communion.
N.B.: For those who don’t understand what the Statue represents, simply read the documents of Vatican II from beginning to end.
In the present crisis of faith, which has broken out within the Catholic Church, on account of the perfidy of those to whom the preaching of the Gospel has been entrusted, Catholics, who seek true spiritual guidance, can look to the exhortation of Pope Leo XIII, in his Encyclical Letter, Sapientiae Christianae, of January 10, 1890, in particular, where he remonstrates with all of the faithful in such a crisis, saying:
To recoil before an enemy, or to keep silence when from all sides such clamors are raised against truth, is the part of a man either devoid of character or who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe.
To doubt the truth of even 1 revealed doctrine taught by Our Lord, by His Apostles, in Sacred Scripture or in Sacred Tradition, is, let us be frank, a mortal sin meriting eternal damnation, because it breaks the bond of trust which a Catholic ought to have in God His Savior. This, alas, is the sin of so many who are “Catholics” in name.
But another mortal sin, one of omission, is that of those who are “devoid of character”. In our own age, when so many Catholics, even otherwise good or devout ones, sit nightly at the feet of the pulpit of the television, neglecting prayer and meditation and the reading of the writings of the Saints of old, nearly every Catholic is lacking in the virtues necessary to withstand the apostasy of our age, which is being promoted by clergy who long ago accommodated themselves to the toleration of the abominations of impurity and sacrilege in the Church, or who have wedded their souls to false obedience out of self-interest.
The near universal silence of the clergy against speaking against the Kasper thesis has astounded many a Catholic, because they presumed, out of the faith which has come to us from the Apostles, that the clergy are men of character who would speak up: not reading the signs of the times, which clearly indicate that the present apostasy of disbelief and of silence was prepared long ago, when the Modernists pushed for and obtained at the Second Vatican Council, documents which speak ambiguously and even erroneously about our Holy Faith, in every aspect of Her life and religion.
The darkness of our age being so profound and universal, the weak soul is easily overcome by despair. This despair comes easily upon the souls who pray but little, and who have drunk either not at all or only in a shallow manner from the clear springs of authentic Catholic meditation, indicated so clearly by the great Saints of old, like St. Teresa of Avila, whose 500th birthday the Church recalled yesterday, March 28, 2015.
There is a Remedy for this lack of Character
And it is found in a wholesome meditation on the duties which each of us have towards Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. But not just any remembrance of Him in His Passion, but one which forces us by direct consideration to confront the lack of character, in our selves, which plagues our age, and which Pope Leo XIII laments in such strong words.
Our Lord and Savior said:“You cannot be My disciples, if you do not renounce yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”(cf. Luke 14:27; Matthew 16:24) The Faith teaches us that the footsteps of Christ Crucified lead to the glory of His Resurrection. But even with this knowledge it is difficult for us sinners, beguiled by sins and attached to this world, to have the fortitude, the courage and the hope necessary to put these words, so mysterious and decisive, into practice.
The meditations which follow, during this Holy Week of prayer are intended to be a means to heal this spiritual malady, so that we, sinners, can grow in grace and be sanctified in the following of the Crucified. We want to be with Jesus in eternity, and hence we take up our cross so as to arrive at His glory, with the help of mediation on His Passion.
Let us, therefore, dedicate this most holiest of Weeks to such meditations, and put aside, for this week, the vain preoccupation with things, websites, blogs and social communications which distract the soul from its most important duty, conforming itself to the will of God in all things, in all affections, in all thoughts, in all judgements, in all desires, in all hopes, in all beliefs, in all loves.
And to aide in that, the From Rome Blog will now begin a series of meditations, entitled:
Prayers & Meditations for the following of Christ Crucified
O Jesus, my only Savior: Who became Man so that thou might die for me; Who fasted forty days in the desert, neither eating nor drinking, so as to give me the courage to mortify myself; Who walked the roads of the Holy Land to give me an example in the acceptance of the little sufferings of daily life; Who endured the insults, the outrages and the disdain of Thy enemies, to teach me to love my enemies; Who, at last, embraced the Cross to save mankind from the punishment of Hell, indicating thereby, too, the path necessary for my own salvation: come to my aide!
I confess that I am a weak, vicious and vile sinner. I know only how to lament my own sufferings, and recount the blessings others receive.
When I contemplate Thy virtue and Thy zeal to save souls, I recognize that I do not have a heart like Thine, I do not have a spirit like Thine, I do not have the vision like Thine! O, my dear Jesus: seeing that Thou hast said: “He who does not take up his cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple,” (Luke 14:27), and “If anyone would come after Me, let him renounce himself, take up his cross and follow Me,” (Matthew 16:24), and seeing that I believe that Thou would never command the impossible, I trust that Thou will give me the grace to put these words into practice, if I ask Thee.
O my good Jesus! I want so much to follow Thee! Hence, I beg Thee, o Most Merciful Lord, to grant me the grace, the light and the heart to be Thy true disciple, to carry my cross and follow Thee, today and for the rest of my life.
We adore Thee, o Christ, and we bless Thee, because by means of Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world, with Mary!
To follow Jesus, you need to believe in Jesus!
O Jesus, when the crowd of Jews asked Thee: “Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”, Thou replied: “The Light is still with you for a little while; walk while you have the light, so that you might not be overcome by the darkness, because he who walks in darkness, knows not where he goes. While you have the light, believe in the Light, so that you might become sons of the Light.” (John 12:31-36)
With these words Thou taught us that it is absolutely necessary that we have faith in Thee, and not only a trust that Thou will be kind towards us. If we accept Thee simply as a good preacher, listening but not changing our life, our mind and our heart, it shall be in vain that we have listened to Thee.
Thy words are light for us in this world of darkness. If we harken unto them and put them into practice, we will become sons of the Light; if we do not put them in practice, we shall lose the Light which Thou are. Hence, to begin to follow Thee is not a devotion for the perfect, it is the sole road to my salvation and for the salvation of all.
O Jesus, my Divine and True Teacher, guide me to Thy Kingdom of Light; lead me on high, far from the shadows of this world! Be my Companion along my own road to Calvary, which is the only escape for me from my sins and vices, which threaten so to swallow me up! Save me, O Savior of the World! and grant me to desire as much to be saved, as Thou desire to save me!
O Lord, by the sign of Thy Cross, deliver us from our enemies!
Download in PDF format, the entire booklet of meditations
14. But in this same matter, touching Christian faith, there are other duties whose exact and religious observance, necessary at all times in the interests of eternal salvation, become more especially so in these our days. Amid such reckless and widespread folly of opinion, it is, as We have said, the office of the Church to undertake the defense of truth and uproot errors from the mind, and this charge has to be at all times sacredly observed by her, seeing that the honor of God and the salvation of men are confided to her keeping.But, when necessity compels, not those only who are invested with power of rule are bound to safeguard the integrity of faith, but, as St. Thomas maintains: “Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers.”(12) To recoil before an enemy, or to keep silence when from all sides such clamors are raised against truth, is the part of a man either devoid of character or who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe. In both cases such mode of behaving is base and is insulting to God, and both are incompatible with the salvation of mankind. This kind of conduct is profitable only to the enemies of the faith, for nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good. Moreover, want of vigor on the part of Christians is so much the more blameworthy, as not seldom little would be needed on their part to bring to naught false charges and refute erroneous opinions, and by always exerting themselves more strenuously they might reckon upon being successful. After all, no one can be prevented from putting forth that strength of soul which is the characteristic of true Christians, and very frequently by such display of courage our enemies lose heart and their designs are thwarted. Christians are, moreover, born for combat, whereof the greater the vehemence, the more assured, God aiding, the triumph: “Have confidence; I have overcome the world.”(13) Nor is there any groundfor alleging that Jesus Christ, the Guardian and Champion of the Church, needs not in any manner the help of men. Power certainly is not wanting to Him, but in His loving kindness He would assign to us a share in obtaining and applying the fruits of salvation procured through His grace.
15. The chief elements of this duty consist in professing openly and unflinchingly the Catholic doctrine, and in propagating it to the utmost of our power.For, as is often said, with the greatest truth, there is nothing so hurtful to Christian wisdom as that it should not be known, since it possesses, when loyally received, inherent power to drive away error. So soon as Catholic truth is apprehended by a simple and unprejudiced soul, reason yields assent. Now, faith, as a virtue, is a great boon of divine grace and goodness; nevertheless, the objects themselves to which faith is to be applied are scarcely known in any other way than through the hearing. “How shall they believe Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? Faith then cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(14) Since, then, faith is necessary for salvation, it follows that the word of Christ must tie preached. The office, indeed, of preaching, that is, of teaching, lies by divine right in the province of the pastors, namely, of the bishops whom “the Holy Spirit has placed to rule the Church of God.”(15) It belongs, above all, to the Roman Pontiff, vicar of Jesus Christ, established as head of the universal Church, teacher of all :hat pertains to morals and faith.
16. No one, however, must entertain the notion that private individuals are prevented from taking some active part in this duty of teaching, especially those on whom God has bestowed gifts of mind with the strong wish of rendering themselves useful. These, so often as circumstances demand, may take upon themselves, not, indeed, the office of the pastor, but the task of communicating to others what they have themselves received, becoming, as it were, living echoes of their masters in the faith. Such co-operation on the part of the laity has seemed to the Fathers of the Vatican Council so opportune and fruitful of good that they thought well to invite it. “All faithful Christians, but those chiefly who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Saviour, that they bring aidto ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and contribute their zealous help in spreading abroad the light of undefiled faith.”(16) Let each one, therefore, bear in mind that he both can and should, so far as may be, preach the Catholic faith by the authority of his example, and by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes. In respect, consequently, to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play.
_________________
12. Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, qu. iii, art. 2, ad 2m.
St Joseph leads the Holy Family into Egypt to escape the murderous conspiracy of King Herod
Rome, March 19, 2015: There has never been in the Church, since the time of the Reformation, such a great need for the intercession of St. Joseph, the virginal true spouse of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father to Our Lord and Savior, the Child Jesus, than today, his feast day.
As Cardinal Burke recently affirmed, the Devil has succeeded in sowing the cockle of error within the Church Herself. This evil seed is the conspiracy of “Team Bergoglio” to overthrow the Catholic Church by means of a most sinister doctrine, the Kasper thesis, which dares to affirm, that in the name of mercy one can abandon the authority of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Apostles and Prophets, the authority of Divine and Apostolic Tradition and ecclesiastical Tradition, to admit to communion every vile impenitent sinner.
The Kasper thesis, is in a word, the theological equivalent of breaking down all boarders in a state. It would be the end of the Catholic Church as a distinctive religious body.
Therefore, I ask my readers, to join with me today in humbly beseeching St. Joseph to intercede for us with Our Lord and His blessed Virgin Spouse, so that he might obtain the graces of fortitude and fidelity for all those Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, Religious and Laity to stand firm against the planned apostasy of “Team Bergoglio” and publicly and privately reprove its adherents. And if they do not repent after the second or third correction, to separate from them, casting them out of the Church as the heretics, apostates and rebels to Christ that they are.
Pope Leo XIII’s Prayer to St. Joseph
There are many versions of this prayer, but having studied the original Latin text with great care, and after much consideration and prayer, I corrected the English text, so that the full meaning and rich signification contained in it might show forth more clearly. I will first give my translation in English, then my similarly corrected translation in Italian, which I made with the help of several experts in the Italian tongue.
Prayer to St. Joseph,
patron of the Universal Church
by Pope Leo XIII
To thee, O blessed Joseph, do we fly in our tribulation, and, having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we also now confidently implore thy holy patronage. We beseech thee by that charity, which united thee with the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, and we humbly pray thee by that fatherly love, with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, to look kindly upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His Blood, and to come to help us in our necessities with thy virtue and powerful aid.
Defend, O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen offspring of Jesus Christ. Ward off from us, O most loving Father, every contagion of error and corruption. Be propitious to us from Heaven, O our most mighty Protector, in our struggle with the power of darkness; and as once thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the greatest peril of His life, so now defend the Holy Church of God from the snares of Her enemies and from all adversity. Shield too, each one of us with thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and powerful aid, we may be able to live a holy life, die a holy death, and attain everlasting beatitude in Heaven.
Amen.
Preghiera a San Giuseppe
di Papa Leone XIII
A Te, o Beato Giuseppe, stretti dalla tribolazione ricorriamo, e fiduciosi invochiamo il Tuo patrocinio, dopo quello della Tua Santissima Sposa. Deh! per quel sacro vincolo di carità che Ti strinse all’Immacolata Vergine Maria Madre di Dio, e per l’amore paterno che portasti al fanciullo Gesù, riguarda, Te ne preghiamo, con occhio benigno la cara eredità che Gesù Cristo acquistò col Suo Sangue, e con la Tua virtù ed il Tuo soccorso potente sovvieni i nostri bisogni.
Proteggi, o provvido Custode della Santa Famiglia, l’eletta prole di Gesù Cristo. Allontana da noi, o Padre amorosissimo, ogni contagio di errore e di corruzione. Assistici, propizio dal Cielo, nella nostra lotta contro il potere delle tenebre, o nostro fortissimo Protettore; e come un tempo scampasti dalla morte la vita minacciata del Pargoletto Gesù, così ora difendi la Santa Chiesta di Dio dalle ostili insidie e da ogni avversità; e stendi sopra ciascuno di noi il Tuo perenne patrocinio, affinché sostenuti dal Tuo esempio e soccorso potente, possiamo virtuosamente vivere, piamente morire e conseguire l’eterna beatitudine in Cielo.
Pope Francis preaches during Mass March 22 in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where the new pontiff resides. Among those in attendance were Vatican gardeners, garbage collectors and cleaning crews. (CNS photo/L’Ossevatore Romano) (April 9, 2013)
Rome, March 17, 2015: It was and is the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ that all who come to Him with faith and repentance receive the Mercy and forgiveness of God, and He won these great gifts for all mankind by His most bloody death on the Cross. But He established a prerequisite for every man, woman, or child who would come to Him, to receive these gifts: namely, faith and penance. It was with this exhortation, that He began His public ministry, when He said, “The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.“ (Mk 1:15). For many Christians, who revere the Bible as the source of their faith, these may only be nice sounding words, but for the Catholic Church, which Christ Founded, these words are both an exhortation unto the end of time and the very form and practice of our Holy Religion.+
The Path of true Repentance & Faith which Christ taught
When a man recognizes that he is a sinner, he comes to Christ by confessing his sins and professing His faith in the Lord Jesus, as God and his Redeemer. He accepts Christ’s teaching as a whole, that is entirely and in every respect, and he submits to the authority of Christ which He handed down, in part, to the Apostles and through them to all the Bishops and priests of His Church. To be incorporated into Christ, therefore, a sinner must present himself to a Catholic priest and receive Baptism, making a profession of faith in Christ and His teachings, and repenting of all his sins. He shows publicly that he is sincere in his repentance by removing himself from the public profession of sin, which consists in those forms or lifestyles which are contrary to the Gospel. Thus, drunkards give up drink and remove it from their homes; fornicators give up fornication, adulterers leave their lovers, sodomites give up their sodomy and its lifestyle, etc.
For Catholics, who have fallen away from the practice of the Faith, and have entered into sinful relations, such as marrying one who is already married but separated or divorced, or cohabiting with anyone, the return to the practice of the Faith requires this same repentance and faith, separation from the life of sin and reception of the Sacrament of Confession. Then one can receive the Eucharist. In the Catholic Church, we take the Sacraments seriously, because we believe just as Our Lord taught us, that in the Eucharist there is really, truly and substantially the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Most High and Holy God of Israel, the Eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, before whom, even in Christ, no one is worthy to come, unless he repent and believe, but by Whose mercy and grace a man is made worthy to receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, if he repent of his sins and believe the entirety (not just what he picks and chooses) of the Gospel.
This is the discipline and faith which the Catholic Church has received from Our Lord Himself, through the Apostles, and from the Apostles through the very men they chose for Bishops and priests (presbyters), and through these down through the ages. Our teachings and disciplines have never changed, because they are not ours, but Christs, and our Church, the Catholic Church is not ours, but Christ’s. The Catholic Church, therefore, being the one of which Christ said: And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her. (Matthew 16:18), knows that this Faith which Christ gave her is her victory over the world, the flesh and Satan; to alter that Faith therefore, would be to succumb to the world, the flesh and Satan. This is what we have always believed, this is what Christ and the Apostles have taught, and not only to us, but to all the world.
A HOMILY WHICH CONVICTS THE POPE OF OPEN SCHISM WITH CHRIST
Thus, it was an incredible and shameless act of defiance to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, when Pope Francis preached this blasphemous sermon, this morning, at Mass. Here is the Italian text of that sermon from Radio Vaticana:
“Un uomo – una donna – che si sente malato nell’anima, triste, che ha fatto tanti sbagli nella vita, a un certo momento sente che le acque si muovono, c’è lo Spirito Santo che muove qualcosa, o sente una parola o… ‘Ah, io vorrei andare!’… E prende coraggio e va. E quante volte oggi nelle comunità cristiane trova le porte chiuse: ‘Ma tu non puoi, no, tu non puoi. Tu hai sbagliato qui e non puoi. Se vuoi venire, vieni alla Messa domenica, ma rimani lì, ma non fare di più’. E quello che fa lo Spirito Santo nel cuore delle persone, i cristiani con psicologia di dottori della legge distruggono”.
La Chiesa è casa di Gesù
“A me fa dispiacere questo”, afferma subito dopo Francesco. Che ribadisce: la Chiesa ha sempre le porte aperte:
“E’ la casa di Gesù e Gesù accoglie. Ma non solo accoglie, va a trovare la gente come è andato a trovare questo. E se la gente è ferita, cosa fa Gesù? La rimprovera perché è ferita? No, viene e la porta sulle spalle. E questa si chiama misericordia. E quando Dio rimprovera il suo popolo – ‘Misericordia voglio, non sacrificio!’ – parla di questo”.
The link above contains the full audio of the homily.
Here is our unofficial English translation, of the citation we just made:
“A man, a woman, who feels bad at heart, sad, who has made so many mistakes in life, at a certain moment feels the waters move, it is the Holy Spirit who moves something, or he hears a word, o, “Ah, I would want to go!” … and he gets the courage and goes. And how many times, today, in the christian community he finds the doors shut: “But you cannot, no, you cannot. You have made a mistake here and you cannot. If you want to come, come to Mass on Sunday, but remain there, don’t do anything else.” And that which the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of these persons, Christians with the mentality of doctors of the law, destroy”.
The Church is the House of Jesus “This displeases me,” Francis affirms immediately afterwards. He repeats: the Church always has her doors open:
“She is the house of Jesus and Jesus is there welcoming. But not only welcoming, he goes to find the people just as he went and found this one. And if the people are wounded, what does Jesus do? Does he reprove them because they are wounded? No, he comes and carries them on his shoulders. And this is called, “mercy”. And when God reproves His people — “I want mercy, not sacrifice!” — He is speaking of this”.
Analysis
The context of the Pope’s talk is about receiving communion. And anyone with the simplest Catholic education can understand that what the pope is doing is denouncing the discipline of reserving the Eucharist for those not in mortal sin, which discipline comes from the Apostles and is universal in all the local Churches which they founded (Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, etc.).
Notice, that there is not 1 word about how the sinner is guilty of a moral offense: in the pope’s mind, the sinner is just 1 who made “mistakes”, and thus has no need to repent, to change his life, and to remove scandal, or to go to confession, before receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. NO! Its the faithful Catholics, who remind him that unless he do this, he cannot receive the Eucharist, but can attend Mass, to pray for the grace of conversion: it is they who have the “mentality” of the pharisees, it is they who destroy the working of the Holy Spirit in these sinners — a most blasphemous and unjust assertion!
Not to mention, an interpretation contrary to 2000 years of faith.
But no, Francis will have none of this! He wants the “doors open” to all, without regard to the necessity of first believing (faith) and converting (penance).
In a word, the Pope just attacked Apostolic Tradition as it regards the discipline of refusing Communion to those in grave sin. That is heresy! And such a sin is condemned by the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicea, held in 787 A. D., in its 4th anathema:
If anyone should despise any written or unwritten ecclesiastical tradition, let him be anathema!
The Pope’s homily is also a formal violation of the teaching of the Council of Trent, Session 13, canon XI (bold facing added):
CANON XI: If any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burdened with mortal sin, howsoever contrite they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.
Thus, this homily of the Pope can serve as formal, canonical evidence of his heresy. If the College of Cardinals, whose duty now is to rebuke him, remain silent and allow him to issue no retraction, they are also guilty of a grave sin against fraternal and filial charity. If he persists, after 2 or 3 corrections, then they are obliged gravely before God to depose him from the papacy, as a heretic and schismatic.
The pope’s reinterpretation of Scripture, this morning, is nothing short of a sacrilege: the imputation to a text from Scripture which is entirely at odds with its signification and proper meaning, and this, to foster the approval of sin, the condoning of sin by false mercy.
For it is mercy to preach repentance to sinners, as Our Lord commanded St. Peter and the Apostles, when He ascended into Heaven. It is false mercy to preach acceptance of sinners without repentance and faith, since that leaves them in the state of sin in which they merit eternal damnation and temporal punishments.
Pope Francis evidently thinks that he is God
And that the infallible and indefectible Church of God, which is the Catholic Church alone, is wrong. And that she has been wrong for 2000 years,* to require both faith and penance of any sinner, before allowing them to receive Jesus Christ in the Sacrament.
What the pope is doing is committing the sins of heresy, blasphemy and sacrilege of scripture all at once.
This is NOT HUMILITY, this is DIABOLIC PRIDE. It is also an act of schism with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
To say that what God said in the Old Testament, “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6; cf. Mt. 9:16), applies to abandoning the requirements of faith and penance, which God’s Only Begotten Son established as the prerequisites of Christian worship, when He said, “The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.“ (Mk 1:15),° is a plain and simple and direct denial of the authority of God the Son, and a usurpation by himself of the prerogatives of the Messiah, the Christ, to establish the limits of the faith!
Such a sin is a work of the Antichrist.
____________________
+ The original article did not contain these first 4 paragraphs, since those who read this blog are devout Catholics. But due to the publicity this article has drawn, the editor has added them to explain the context of what follows even to non-Catholics and show why what the Pope did at mass, on Tuesday, was and is such a scandal.
* For citations from the new Catechism, see the comments below.
° St. Peter the Apostle, shows that this is to be understood of the Sacraments, when he preached on Pentecost day, saying: But “Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38), where he shows the necessity of penance and faith prior to receiving the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Since, the Christian Faith, is not a Pharisaical religion of external observances, but a spiritual one, the spiritual requirements for 1 sacrament are the spiritual requirements for all the sacraments. Thus faith and penance (repentance) is required most of all for the Eucharist, which is the supreme Sacrament of communion with God.
News and Commentary on the Catholic Church
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
